Hearts-to-Heart
by Punzie the Platypus
Summary: Post-S1. Betty and Polly share a sisterly heart-to-heart talk about, well, everything—the boys their mother didn't want them to have, the mysterious older brother they apparently have, and Polly's babies, the last living memory of Jason Blossom. Polly/Jason, Betty/Jughead.


**_Soli Deo gloria_**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Riverdale. (Riverdale's premiere is tomorrow night you guys. Ahhhhh! :))**

 **Here's a scene I can see happening between Betty and Polly after Jason's murderer is found. They are close-knit** ** _sisters_** **, after all. I feel like they must have had some heart-to-heart conversation after everything went down.**

Betty entered her pink bedroom with a Pop's paper tray in her hand and a pink blush on her cheek. Polly, laying on her sister's pretty made bed, looked up from her fashion magazine and smiled.

Betty held up the tray almost tipping over because of the weight of two heavy milkshakes. "Someone called for room service?" she teased.

"Oh, good, Betty. I couldn't wait a moment longer!" Polly set aside the magazine and groaned softly as she pulled herself into a sitting position. Her pregnant belly was bigger than ever as she sat against the headboard, her eyes closed.

"Headache?" Betty asked, concerned, as she sat on the edge of her bed and popped the straws out of their paper wrappings.

"No. Just sore. And tired. Also, these babies are heavy. Like, _really_ heavy," Polly said, a little in surprised wonder, as she took the milkshake her sister offered her.

"Cherry vanilla, as requested," Polly said.

Polly closed her eyes and smiled in bliss as she sipped at the milkshake. She popped the maraschino cherry off and sighed happily. "There are ninety-nine things I blame Penelope Blossom for, and one of them is getting me addicted to Pop's milkshakes," Polly said, eating the cherry.

"Well, if she hadn't gotten you addicted, I'm sure I would've. I go to Pop's so often, it's like I have my own personal booth," Polly said, sticking her straw into her own milkshake—white chocolate strawberry.

"I'm sure you don't go there every day to sit in that big ol' booth all by yourself. You know, it can get very cozy at Pop's," Polly teased insinuatingly.

Betty's blush deepened. The smile popping up onto her face couldn't be hidden.

"I have eyes, you know, Betty. Just because I'm being shut away in every place I live in doesn't mean I don't see things. Notice things." Polly sounded older and wiser than she had.

Betty saw her then in a different light—she may be a high-school dropout pregnant with twins, but she was also wise and old. She'd seen many things, experienced many things—felt so many things that Polly was really too innocent and young to understand. The depth of falling in love, the maturity to carry two human lives, the courage to run away and escape the insane manipulation of two feuding families with the man she loved. Betty looked at Polly; while she may be her older sister, her one protector in a house full of secrets and harsh truths, Betty knew she didn't know too much about the real Polly at all.

Betty put down her milkshake. Her smile disappeared entirely as her entire face changed, growing sober and serious. She found a quiet tone of voice: "Polly, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Polly chirped cheerfully. She'd put another fluffy pillow under her back and felt better.

"You know how Mom and Dad didn't tell me much anything about you. All I knew was that Jason and you were dating, that that wasn't allowed, and then he treated you awfully. Now I know that that wasn't true. That though you two _were_ dating, he really _did_ love you. How . . ." In truth, Betty didn't know much about Jason Blossom, either. And she was curious; she wanted to know the whole story. "How did everything happen?"

Polly hummed a little under her breath, looking down at the clean pink carpet and letting her eyes travel up to rest on the framed gilt mirror sitting on Betty's desk. She felt very old, and looking at Betty's bedroom, all pretty and nice, made her feel even more so. She sighed heavily and looked up at Betty and said, "I'd been going to the same schools as Jason Blossom since kindergarten. I never really noticed him until high school, when I became a River Vixen and he became the star quarterback of the Bulldogs. I worked with Cheryl on the squad and she actually introduced me to her twin. We hit it off right off the back, having a first but special conversation by the lockers. After junior year's homecoming game, when we won with three seconds left, he took me out to Pop's. There was this big party at Reggie Mantle's house but we didn't go. Cheryl begged him to, because it was kind of big party. If you didn't go, you were a loser. But Jason _insisted_ on taking me out to Pop's. She fumed and he took my arm and we went to Pop's. We sat in this booth together; we had milkshakes. I distinctly remember the flavors: I got chocolate while he got cherry vanilla. He offered me a taste of his and I've been hooked on it ever since. It's my favorite flavor." Polly gave a little shrug as she sipped at the milkshake. Her eyes turned distant as she thought back to those memories of just a year ago.

Betty knew that no matter how much of the story Polly told her, there would still be stuff she wouldn't tell her little sister; little moments, kept secrets, special words whispered in a hot breath for her ears only. There was so much of Jason Blossom that Polly Cooper would never tell another soul, even her little sister.

"From then on Jason and I dated. Cheryl hated me; she let the whole squad know it. I mean, you saw how she made snide comments at me in the school hallways."

Betty did remember. It was her freshman year of high school, just last year; she still had her braces and hung out with her crush Archie and the ever enigmatic Jughead Jones. (How much could change in a year. In a summer. In a moment.) She remembered her big sister Polly as a popular cheerleader, with this older, even more popular redheaded boy whose parents hated their parents, and vice versa. Betty never more than greeted Jason Blossom as was polite at football games and in passing at the hall. Archie only saw another redhead and Jughead avoided Jason like the plague due to the fact that they were completely different people and Jason made sure he knew that.

Betty greeted Jason still with nothing more than polite, if blushing, inquiries when she saw him cuddling her sister on their living room couch when their parents were at the newspaper office late. She'd never gotten to know Jason. After he died, Betty wished that she'd understood him more. If she'd understood him, she would've known Polly better, and fought for her against their parents far sooner than she had.

"Why does Cheryl hate you, do you think?" Betty said.

Polly sighed. "Well, she and Jason were inseparable from birth. Guess who separated them?" Polly jutted a thumb at herself. "I was the rift between them last school year. I was the one he wanted to spend time with. I was the one he wanted to run away with. Cheryl didn't make him stay; she didn't hold it against him, but she sure as hell held it against _me_."

Betty squeezed her sister's hand tight. Her eyes shone with intensity and sympathy at the same time. "I know I don't know everything, but I'm sorry for all the pain you've suffered just for being with Jason."

Polly blinked and gave her a small smile with shiny eyes. She'd been poked and prodded by the Blossoms while she dated Jason, judged by them with their heartless eyes and tilted chins. Once she'd been sent to the Sisters of Quiet Mercy she never heard from them. She assumed they'd kept Jason from her. Even after finding out he was dead, she didn't trust them. Her gut feeling was right. They _had_ kept Jason away from her.

Betty couldn't stand seeing the pain shine in her sister's eyes. She spoke softly of a subject of conversation Polly always loved falling back on, always loved talking about: Jason. "You really loved him, didn't you?"

"I do," Polly said. "I mean, I don't know much about that old playbook the football team kept"—it was made by universal decision between Veronica, Betty, Cheryl, and Ethel that _no one_ was to mar Polly's memory of Jason with the full details of that book—"but Jason really _did_ love me. I could see it in his smile, his eyes, when he laughed and when he talked. Do you ever see that on a man, where every expression on his face just screams that he's in love?"

A certain familiar face came to mind and Betty suppressed a smile. "Yes, I do."

Polly caught on quick. "Of course you do." She poked Betty in the side with her knee and Betty said, to keep the subject on Polly, "When did everything else . . . happen?"

Polly put a hand to her blooming stomach. "Oh, when did I get pregnant?"

Betty, despite not being very innocent at all, blushed at the stark word.

Polly sipped at her milkshake. "I'm due in the middle of March, which puts us in the middle of June—yeah, that's when it happened."

"Not in this house?" Betty said, cringing.

"With our parents? Betty, come on." Polly shook her head. "His parents' pool house. It was after a party with all the old River Vixens and football team. I don't think Archie was there. He never really hung out with the other guys of the football team."

"He prefers Pop's and friends than awkward social gatherings," Betty agreed. Where Archie was, she and by attachment Jughead were, and Jughead didn't do parties.

"I can respect that. But I like parties; sue me." Polly laughed. Once again that faraway look came into her eyes; she was remembering it all, and even if she wanted to, she couldn't let Betty into her little world. She would never be able to understand it, because no one could understand it except her and Jason.

"Was it . . . good? Bad? Not recommended? The best ever?" Betty sidestepped, just like a real curious kid sister.

Polly sighed in thought, sipping her milkshake. "It was . . . _magical_." Then she grew somber and said, "His parents discovered us, after. They forced him to break up with me. I didn't hate him for it, but I loathed them for it. Mom and Dad were so relieved, and you were _so_ mad, Betts. I thought you were gonna go and punch him in the nose. I wouldn't let you, though."

Betty sighed. "I thought he hurt you. I didn't know he was just a victim in the Blossoms' game."

Polly continued, quietly, "I missed, so I took a bus out to the next town and got a five-dollar pregnancy test _there_. I knew if I bought one at Westnor's Corner Drug word would get around to Mom and Dad and they'd _freak_ and never let me see him again." A look of great happiness brought on by a happy remembrance shone in her face. "Jason was the first person I told. He was so happy, Betts." Betty smiled sadly. "He never wanted the Blossom name, the reputation, the coldness. He didn't like his own family except for Cheryl, because she was the only one who understood him. I understood him more, though. I-I told him I knew what it was like to want to escape from your parents. The idea of having his own family, one that was _his_ and not the _Blossoms_ , made him _so_ happy. Nana Rose approved our engagement. Then one night we met at Pop's and we made plans to run away. Oh, what big plans, Betty. I was so excited. My only regret in leaving would have been leaving _you_. I would leave all of Riverdale but I would be forever haunted by leaving you alone with Mom and Dad."

Betty squeezed her hand. "It's okay."

Polly gulped. "He didn't tell me exactly what his plan was. Something to do with drugs and the Serpents, but he said it was only a one-time thing, and it would give us the cash we needed. We planned to run away on July Fourth. Everything was going according to plan until Mom found me throwing up from morning sickness one day. I didn't have to tell her. She's our _mother_. She could recognize it in me. And that was that." Polly sighed as she sat up and set aside her milkshake. "I was sent away. I sent him a text before Mom and Dad took away my phone, though. I told him what was happening but that I was still on for it. That the baby and I were still going to meet him at the other side of Sweetwater River. He believed I could do it. He believed in me and supported me until the very end, Betty. Those were our last words together. Betty," Polly said, little sobs hitching in her chest as she looked beseechingly at her little sister, "I didn't know that when I entered that place I would never see Jason again. He was going across Sweetwater, _for me and our baby_. He was doing the drug delivery, _for me and our baby_. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have died!"

"Polly," Betty said in a comforting yet firm voice, "you're not the reason Jason's dead. The reason he's dead is because of his father, and his father didn't _murder_ him for any of those reasons. He did it because he was selfish and cruel and a Blossom and Jason didn't want any part of that anymore." Betty leaned closer and embraced her sobbing sister. Polly wept into Betty's shoulder for a long time; Betty could take it, could rub circles into her pregnant sister's back and whisper soothing words. She had to be strong. No one else in the Cooper clan could be. Not right now. So she had to be.

Polly sat back up and swiped her fingertips under her eyes; she, in the attempt to still be seventeen-years-old, wore makeup, just like she did in her school days. Her tears mixed with her mascara as she said in a shaking, laughing voice, "Sorry. I thought I'd gotten past my mood swinging."

"It's okay," Betty said reassuringly. No matter what, she had her sister's back. If she needed to vent to her or just explode with tears on her shoulder, she'd be there for her.

"It's just been hard. But you know that. You've discovered just how complicated life in Riverdale has become," Polly said.

Betty sighed, remembering every detail of the past few weeks; the plot twists she'd discovered, people's real personalities coming to surface, secrets exposed after hiding in the shadows too long. Polly could say _that_ again.

Polly regarded her younger sister in a serious, thoughtful light. "You've grown up so much, Betts. You've taken everything; I feel like you're a punching bag that keeps getting hit over and over, but you never break. You just . . . _take_ it." Polly looked sadly at her hands. "I could never do that."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I feel like breaking every single second of every single day," Betty said. She bit her lips as she chose her next words. "I _do_ break a little, every day. But then I take a deep breath and stand taller. Because I know that if I break now, I won't be able to take the next hard thing that's sure to come."

"Mom and Dad put too much on you. They put such responsibilities and pressures on you that _should_ have broken you by now. All because they don't want you to become your screwed-up older sister," Polly said in a teasing voice. She meant it, teasingly, however true they both knew it. Mrs. Cooper's insistent warnings for Betty to remain coolheaded and responsible and perfect were drilled into both of their heads.

"Do you think Mom's so hard on me because of you, or because of her?" Betty asked slowly, like she didn't know what kind of nerve she could hit the deeper they delved into this heart-to-heart.

Polly sat back, thoughtful. She'd been told of Mom's secret pregnancy and the birth of their older brother. "I think both. I think she didn't know how much like her I was until she found out I was pregnant. Then she looked at you and thought, 'What if she isn't any different than Polly? Than me? What if this is something she can't escape?' That's why she's been hard on you, especially since you started dating Jughead."

"Especially? Does she—does she think—" Betty looked, horrified, at Polly's smirk. "Ewwww! Oh, Mom!"

"You've got a bad Cooper women history following you whomever you date," Polly said, folding her arms over her pregnant belly, "and she's on high alert."

"Wait, Mom doesn't think—?"

"Does she have reason to think?"

"You know Mom thinks worse-case scenario with everything." Betty sighed, shaking her head. It wouldn't matter who she dated, whether it was Jughead Jones from the south side of town or Archie Andrews, the nice boy next door. Her mother would forever breathe down her neck no matter who she had a relationship with. Nobody was safe, nobody was exempt.

"I think she's trying to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. You know, repeatedly," Polly said, rolling her hand around. "I mean, I'm sure Mom has nothing to worry about with you. She'll just give herself a headache worrying about nothing at all."

Betty gave Polly a tight smile. Sisters they may be, but they were allowed their few secrets from the other. Each had their own moments and memories about the boys they loved they wouldn't let pass their lips for any reason.

Polly pointed a finger at Betty, laughing. "There! There!"

Betty threw up her hands. "There? What's 'there'?"

"You were thinking about Jughead; I can tell. Your smile is so much more real, like you can't control it. You're not forcing it for once, either. Also, you're blushing. Is that why you were blushing earlier when you brought the milkshakes in?"

"Well, I _did_ get the milkshakes at Pop's, and you know Jughead practically lives at Pop's," Betty explained.

"I feel like half of Riverdale's second home is at Pop Tate's," Polly laughed.

Betty didn't tell Polly, but she wanted to: wanted her to just _know_ how much of a second home Pop's was to Jughead. How it was stability and always there and familiar and cozy and _safe_. Well, _was_ safe. Until Fred Andrews was shot in it.

"How's he liking his new high school? Must be nice, just going to high school. Pretending to be normal," Polly said, sighing a little. She herself knew how much Betty was tired of everyone pretending to be normal, tired of all of Riverdale trying to assign good and bad where they saw fit so that everything would be completely black and white, tied up with a pretty ribbon. Unquestionable. Perfect. Her words were sardonic, and a little envious.

Betty regarded Polly's question, hesitated to answer it as she looked for the right words. "He . . . _does_ like it. He still believes that it's there where he belongs. I don't believe that. Truly, though. He belongs just as much with me and Archie and Veronica and Kevin as anyone in Riverdale does."

"Does he believe that? Does he _want_ to believe that?" Polly wondered.

Betty again searched for words, her tongue caught. "He . . . _does_. But he also can't deny what he believes is true. But, then, _I_ can't deny what I believe is true."

"Which is?" Polly prompted.

"That he's as much as Riverdale as anyone else in this town. More so, really."

"So he doesn't want to get away from Riverdale; he just feel like he doesn't belong here." Polly sighed. "Jason wanted to get away from Riverdale because of the people here. Because of all the secrets, and blood feuds, and glossy smiles on deceiving facades."

Betty knew the bitterness behind Polly's words; if this town was a better place, if this town didn't protect those who were the real venom behind Riverdale's bite, if this town welcomed those who stepped out from the shadows and revealed the ugly truth no matter the consequences it surely held, Jason wouldn't have wanted to run away. He wouldn't have wanted to start a brand new life with Polly and their babies. He would've stayed here with his sister; Polly would've stayed here with her family.

Riverdale was made up of people who wanted Riverdale to look a certain way. It rejected anyone who wanted to ruin its perfect reputation. Betty and Polly only wished that it would reject the true perpetrators instead of those who they wanted to be the ones in the wrong.

"Do you think he'll ever come back to Riverdale High?" Polly asked gently.

Betty brought her mind back from her thoughts and sighed as she said, "I hope so. I'm not giving up on him. So few people believe in him. That's discouragement for him enough. But I won't let him go."

Polly smiled and squeezed her sister's hand. "Once you believe in someone, you never let them go. Betty Cooper, you're one of the most loyal and loving people I know."

Betty thought of Polly and Jason, how she remained fiercely loyal to him even after his death, and how she still loved him so. She said, her grip just as tight and reassuring as her sister's, "I can say the same thing about you, Polly Cooper."

Polly smiled with tears in her eyes; then her smile disappeared as a sudden grip of surprise arrested her face. "Betty! Betty!" she cried.

Betty immediately looked alarmed. "Polly, what is it?! What's happening?"

Polly's surprised face broke out with a smile. The tears stood out in her eyes as her cheeks dimpled. "They kicked! The babies, they kicked!" She stopped squeezing her sister's hand and led her hand over her swollen abdomen, barely breathing as she awaited the next sure movement.

Betty held her breath until she felt a tiny little _thud_. She met Polly's eyes with a smile. "That's a kick, Polly," she said excitedly.

Polly nodded quickly. "It feels funny. Like a muscle twitch. It almost tickles!"

"They sound like they're wrestling in there," Betty said.

"Maybe arguing. That's what siblings do," Polly said, laughing.

"We don't, so maybe there's the off-chance that they're just having a tumultuous heart-to-heart," Betty said, making Polly laugh again.

A sweet peaceful silence fell over them as they both felt the faint but undeniable baby kicks. Betty said, "Do you think they'll be boys or girls or one of each?"

Polly regarded the question. "I hope both girls, like us, or boy and girl, like Jason and Cheryl. I think that would make Cheryl really happy. It would've made Jason really happy." She lay back on her pillow and sighed. "Jason would've been so happy to learn that it's twins. He loved being a twin."

Betty still couldn't understand why _anyone_ would be happy being a twin with Cheryl Blossom, but she betrayed no such unkind thought to Polly.

Polly spoke as if coming up from a deep well of thought. "Betty, can I ask you something?"

Betty noticed the anxiety in her sister's voice. They'd been swapping heartfelt words only for each other's ears to hear, and yet now her sister wanted her to know something _truly_ exclusive and secret. Betty said, "Polly, you know you can tell me _anything_. Of course you can."

Polly swallowed, then took the plunge. "You know how Cheryl joked at the baby shower about being the baby's godmother? And I'd already promised you that _you_ would be the baby's godmother?"

"Yes," Betty said slowly.

Polly met her eyes. "Well, that was before I found out that I'm having twins. So, two babies, two aunts. Two godmothers?"

Betty was surprised by the idea, but . . . it made sense. Despite her still suspicious feelings about Cheryl, she knew the facts as well as anyone: these babies were Polly Cooper and Jason Blossom's babies. They were each as much Blossom as they were Cooper. Cheryl . . . Cheryl had a bullet-shaped hole in her heart ever since she found out that Jason was _really_ dead. Cheryl was a combination of a selfish, petty, venomous heart that lashed out against anything and everything, and a product of bad circumstances. Betty both didn't like her but also wished she was okay. Cheryl Blossom, rich, talented, beautiful Cheryl Blossom, had a dead murderer for a father, _Penelope Blossom_ for a mother, and her twin was dead. She had no one, really, to fall back to for comfort. Jason had always been her confidante, her protector, her comforter. And now he was gone. These babies were the last hold of him living on this Earth. Cheryl wanted to be close to Jason. Here was her real chance.

Polly might be Betty's sister, but Cheryl needed her brother, too. Even if the situation never arose where the babies would actually really _need_ their godmother in place of Polly, just to have the title and the special honor bestowed on her would lift Cheryl from her lonely hole.

"Polly, I think that would be a really, really good idea," Betty said.

Polly looked relieved. "So you're not mad?"

" _Of course_ I'm not mad. They're your children, Polly. And I can't be selfish and lay sole claim to them just because I'm their aunt. Cheryl's their aunt, too." Betty looked surprised; she said aloud, just to come to terms with the very idea, "Cheryl and I are going to be aunts of the same nieces and nephews."

"Or niece and nephew," Polly pointed out.

Betty turned to Polly. "If at least one of them's a boy, make her the godmother of him. That's all I ask. Okay, Polly? In honor of her brother?"

Polly nodded. "Of course, Betty."

Betty sat back and enjoyed the slight little kicks her sister's babies threw her way. They thudded against the soft palm of her hand, amazing her with their tenacity and insistence to be heard. They definitely had Cooper blood in them.

Polly tiptoed into another subject. "Speaking of brothers, what do you think this of mysterious older brother we have?"

Betty sighed, sitting back. She was careful to not withdraw her hand from the baby kicks, though. "I can't believe Mom and Dad have been keeping him a secret for so long. I know they're ashamed about it, but we're their _daughters_. You don't have to go advertising it all over Riverdale, but he's our _brother_. We should've been told earlier."

"You know how Mom and Dad have their secrets. Do we even know if he's our biological brother?" Polly wondered aloud.

Betty looked up, startled. "I-I assumed. . ."

"Maybe that was why Mom and Dad were arguing that night all those years ago. Maybe the baby wasn't Dad's."

"You're saying he might be our _half_ -brother, whoever he is?" Betty wondered.

Polly sighed, looking tired. "After the past few months, I wouldn't be surprised. After all the secrets Riverdale's revealed, I don't think I'm surprised by any more of their secrets."

Betty regarded this new question in a new light. She made a mental note to ask her mother about it later. She didn't care how much pain such a stab at an old wound would bring her; she had enough of her mother only revealing certain truths.

"Do you ever think we'll meet him? Or learn his name?" Polly wondered.

Betty didn't know if Polly was being rhetorical or musing aloud or just wistfully thinking. Betty wondered what it would be like to have a brother. According to Cheryl, brothers were the best thing ever. Or maybe that was just a twin thing. Betty had grown up her whole life with just her sister. She'd seen Archie in a crush light and Jughead in a friend light for her entire childhood. What would it have been like to have a protective older brother her entire childhood? It was almost too weird a scenario to comprehend. What was also weird was that if it hadn't been for her parents' decision, she _would_ have had that scenario; it wouldn't have been weird, but normal. She would've been the baby sister with the rebellious fun older sister and a protective older brother. It would've been _normal_ and she wouldn't have thought it weird at all.

"I don't know," Betty said. "That's just another thing we'll have to ask Mom."

"With all these questions, I think we're going to be talked-out before Mom is," Polly said.

Betty noticed her sister's tired eyes and the haggardness of her face. She said, "We'll figure it all out together, Polly. We will. But right now, I think you could use a nap. I've got homework to do, anyway."

Polly smiled gently as she closed her eyes. "Ah, homework. I forgot about such responsibilities in light of everything."

"High school might right now rank very low on our list of importance, but its demands must be heard anyway," Betty quipped, to lighten the mood. It was true; high school and classes and cheerleading faded into the background in the dark light of murders and babies and betrayals, _and_ criminal activity as the ever-present but never-mentioned undercurrent of their small idyllic town. Still, looking at Polly's face, Betty wished that the biggest concerns in Polly's life were making enough time in her schedule for cheerleading and studying for the upcoming bio quiz.

"Ah, true. Go, heed its call," Polly quipped back.

Betty felt the babies kick one last time before standing up. She fluffed up her sister's pillow and tucked her coverlet over her. The soft yellow light played against the pink innocence of the room and the prettiness of her sister's glowing face. The rain pattering behind the frilly curtains played a soft background music as Betty gathered up the remains of their Pop's snacking and prepared to turn off the light when Polly spoke up. "Betts?"

"Yeah, Pol?" Betty asked.

Polly bit her lip, looking at her younger sister. So full of innocence and beauty, so full of grit and strength. She said, "Jason and I didn't turn out okay. I mean, I'll always have part of him with me," she rubbed her hand against her belly, letting herself be reassured by the tentative but encouraging little kicks against her maternal hand, "but . . . we didn't end up _together_ , you know?"

Betty nodded once, wondering where Polly was going with this but letting her take her time.

"You and Jughead . . . you two will be okay. You'll end up together. You will. You know?"

Betty smiled her real, genuine smile. It reassured Polly and her worrying, overtaxed heart. "I know, Pol."

Polly smiled, relieved. She said quietly, "Blow off homework, Betts. It'll always be there. Go be with Jughead. Okay?"

Betty took her words to heart. "Okay."

Polly exhaled, relieved, and, with those words off her chest, let herself close her eyes. She could now let herself sleep.

Betty turned off the light and closed the door silently behind her, to not disturb her exhausted sister. Then, on the way to the kitchen garbage can, she texted Jughead about meeting up at Pop's again, like they hadn't just seen each other half an hour ago. She didn't care. Polly was right. She needed to take every moment she could get with him, because every moment with him was precious.

Her heart lit up just as much as her face when he texted back.

 **I've enjoyed delving into the different aspects of everyone's relationships. Also,** ** _I ship Bughead and now Jolly (Pason?) so much ugh._**

 **Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought of this story in a review! :D**


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